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Talk:Ireland
Northern Ireland I've moved the behind the scenes info about Kenneth Branagh and Michelle Fairley to the Northern Ireland page. Mr. Mortimer 22:07, 31 October 2010 (UTC) Government There is no source cited for the information about Ireland being under the authority of the British Ministry of Magic. I've gone looking, but I can't find anything from Rowling to back up this claim. Does anyone have any leads? It's a pretty contentious claim to allow stand unsupported. If we don't have a clear source for it, I believe it should be removed. Sadhbh85 (talk) 19:17, January 9, 2016 (UTC) :I believe it's an inference from the fact that, during the final of the Quidditch World Cup in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the Bulgarian Minister for Magic represents the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team, while the Irish National Quidditch Team is represented by Cornelius Fudge of the British Ministry of Magic. Scotland and Wales each have their own "national Quidditch team" despite not being sovereign nations, so that it's possible that the Irish National Quidditch Team represents only Northern Ireland, not Ireland as a whole. But the British and Irish Quidditch League, which falls under the authority of the Department of Magical Games and Sports of the British Ministry of Magic, both has a team from Ballycastle, Northern Ireland and a team from Kenmare, Republic of Ireland. :I remember reading an interview with J. K. Rowling in which she mentioned that the wizarding world's continued reference to defunct or outdated place names like "Transylvania" and "Abyssinia" proves that they don't always observe the same political boundaries as the Muggle world. I'll try to find it again. But my takeaway was that political divisions that exist in the Muggle world don't necessarily carry over to the wizarding world. -★ Starstuff (Owl me!) 05:28, February 16, 2016 (UTC) :::Yes, that meshes with what I came across when looking for discussions of this issue on the web. Going back to the text of the chapter in Goblet of Fire, however, I think it's ambiguous enough to be unclear. Fudge may be there as a representative of the hosting country: ::::“And as the Irish team performsa lap of honor, flanked by their mascots, the Quidditch World Cup itself is brought into the TopBox!” roared Bagman.Harry’s eyes were suddenly dazzled by a blinding white light, as the Top Box was magically illuminated so that everyone in the stands could see the inside. Squinting toward the entrance, he saw two panting wizards carrying a vast golden cup into the box, which they handed to Cornelius Fudge, who was still looking very disgruntled that he’d been using sign language all day for nothing. :::To me, that can easily be interpreted as Fudge being given the trophy in order to award it to the winning team; not that he's accepting the cup on their behalf. Given how sensitive a subject it is, and how many people use the HP Wiki as their source for canon facts, I think perhaps it's better not to make the inference when the evidence is so scanty? Sadhbh85 (talk) 17:33, February 18, 2016 (UTC)